Crosshatch - II

Waking up was hard. The room was almost too bright for my eyes.
When I tried to sit up, I could hardly support myself with my right arm. And that's the good one.
As I looked around the room, blearily blinking away unconsciousness, I found the reason it was so bright. Two of the walls were large panes of glass, showing the outside world.
It was the one I'd seen from the crystalline pool.
Vines wove through terraces, slipping through holes and around bars, blooming wherever it suited them in splotches of blue, purple, and pink. More plants lay outside all the buildings I could see, their flowers every color of the rainbow. Trees were beyond the buildings and the road I could see, dotting the blue sky with green. The buildings were white and pristine, with no cracks upon their surfaces.
"You're already awake?" someone asked; I looked to the door to my left in shock. It was open, with a young man standing in the doorway. His hair was a bright gold, and some parts of it were white. His inquisitive eyes were an almost unreal blue, tinged with orange. His skin was lightly tanned, and his clothes were simple and white.
"Who're you?" I responded, my voice higher than I'd like. I sunk back into the pillows and blankets around my body, away from the ethereal-looking boy.
"I could ask you the same," he responded, smilng slightly. His eyes changed from that placid blue to an amused green.
"Your eyes!" I nearly shouted, sitting up. "Did they just-"
"Yes, yes," the blonde replied, waving his hand. He walked over to the bed, closing the door behing him. He sat down at the end. "I get that a lot.
"Anyway, I'm Acroste," he said, crossing one leg over the other. His eyes faded to a dark brown, chocolate-like, color. "You're safe here."
"Am I really?" I challenged, attempting to slug him with my left arm. I'd wanted to hit him to the ground and proudly proclaim, 'Oh, yeah? Doesn't look like you're so safe.'
Instead, my arm cracked again as it went from bent to stock-straight in three seconds. As I began my lunge at Acroste, it was foiled as I crumpled down onto the bed in a heap.
"Gah!" I nearly swore. My head was in the blankets, and sharp, slicing pain shot up my arm. I doubted I could lift myself back up.
"There, there," Acroste murmured as he slowly pushed me back to a sitting position. He looked as he was about to say something smug, so I socked him in the jaw with my other fist.
His eyes widened and changed to a surprised pink, but he hardly moved, save for his hand coming up to cover his chin where I'd hit him. "Why'd you do that?"
"Owww," I hissed, shaking my stinging knuckles. "What's in your bones, rocks or something?"
Acroste's grin returned, as did the green eyes. "No. They're hollow."
I forgot my pain for a moment. "Are you a bird or something?"
"No, far from it. It's just part of me, like my hair or my eyes," he said, matter-of-factly. "I'm not human, no. But that's not important."
"How is that not important?!" I scoffed. "That sounds like something that would be very important!"
"Well, it's not. Now, where were we..?" Acroste clapped his hands together, his eyes shifting to a humming orange. "Ah, introductions. I'm Acroste, and you are..?"
I studied him. His ever changing eyes, the slight creases in his shirt. I couldn't see any scars on him - he hadn't lived as I had, had he? Who even was he? All he'd given me was a name.
"If you're not going to tell me, I'll just give you one," he said, resting his face on his hand. He leaned forward somewhat, narrowing his eyes a little. The way he scanned over me made me uncomfortable, how he settled on everything. I felt exposed to the world, one I'd never seen prior to..yesterday, was it?
"Kloss," he decided, tilting his head. He said it with finality.
I never knew how much it fit the new me.
"Your name is Kloss," Acroste repeated, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile.
"Kloss," I echoed, softly. I brushed the hair out of my eyes, smiling, too, just a little bit.
Then I punched him again.